Sources say Automattic’s board is out after failed attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg
Automattic's board of directors has been replaced following a failed attempt to remove CEO Matt Mullenweg. Mullenweg has confirmed his return to control of the company, though specific details regarding the board's departure remain limited.
Why it matters
This corporate governance shakeup at a major technology company behind WordPress has significant implications for the future of the platform and its open-source mission.
Automattic’s board is out, multiple sources have confirmed to TechCrunch, after last week’s attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg by voting to put him on a paid leave of absence.
After the vote, Mullenweg, the WordPress founder and CEO of WordPress.com parent company Automattic, accused the board of conspiring against him in a post on Automattic’s Slack. On Friday, TechCrunch exclusively reported Mullenweg told the company’s staff that he was back in control of the company, also via Slack post. Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch on Saturday that he had returned.
Initially, we heard from sources that Toni Schneider, a founding CEO at Automattic who now leads the open social network Bluesky, had resigned his Automattic board seat. Schneider has since removed a paragraph from his bio page on his personal website which had noted his contributions at Automattic.
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